Craft

Block #49~Friday, December 7

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Today, I am catching up with making the blocks for my fabric quilt journal. I had the ideas, and drawn my designs, but I am just now able to get them done.
During this first week of December, I found myself surrounded with the sounds and sights of Christmas. My sewing studio is decked out with Christmas decorations. I have been listening to Christmas music while I’ve been working on gift projects and quilts. On one occasion, I visited a mall. This is where I saw children lined up to see Santa. This brought back a special Christmas memory from my childhood.
The Santa kiosk at the mall was festive, but no way compared to the visit to Santa of my youth.
Joske’s was a premiere department store in San Antonio from 1888-1987. My childhood home was in downtown San Antonio. near Joske’s. In the 50’s and 60’s, downtown San Antonio played a central part of my life. As a child, I could not wait for Joske’s to set up the huge Santa on top of the building. I also loved visiting the special Fantasy Land that Joske’s created in the store during the season. My mother and my aunt would pile my cousins, my older sister, and me into the 1952 Chevy and take us to see Santa. I have a photo of me with Santa, that is from 1954. The special memory of this visit came to mind this week, so I included it as Block #49.

Block #49~ Friday, December 7
Christmas Memory-Santa and Me
Background: Holly Christmas fabric; brocade backing
Technique: Photo printed on fabric; strip patched

Block #50~ Friday, December 14
Karate Kid
My son sent me a photo of my grandson on his first night at karate class.
It made my week!
The smile on his face speaks volumes.
I printed the photo on fabric, and framed it with polka-dot fabric.

I can not believe that there are only two more Fridays remaining in the year!

Block #48~Great Blue Heron~Friday, November 30

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

The Meemaws spent the last weekend in November visiting Rockport, Texas. The purpose for our trip was to take the Whooping Crane and Coastal Birding tour and just have fun.  We were able to spot 25 different species of birds. Watching a family of three Whooping Cranes defend their one mile territory from intruding Whooping Cranes was absolutely amazing. My most favorite bird, however, was the Great Blue Heron. I ran across some individual Herons in different locations and was able to get up close.

These photos were taken in the early afternoon.

This photo was taken in the early morning. It is my favorite.

The Great Blue Heron was the trip’s hit for me, so I included it in my fabric quilt journal. I am late in making the hexagon block because I am finishing off Christmas projects.

Block #48~Friday, November 30
Great Blue Heron
Background: Cotton linen; marbled beige backing
Technique: Applique, thread-sketching, FMQ

Snow Owl

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

With bandaged fingers, I was able to bind the small Snow Owl quilt I pieced for my granddaughter. This is the first time I used Minky fabric for a backing. I was looking online for washing instructions. I wish I had done this before I used Minky. Everything I read had major restrictions on washing and drying Minky. I consulted with my friend, and she says that she has washed Minky in cold water and has dried it in the dryer with no problem. I will find out the hard way, I guess. Although, I did wash and dry a Minky pillow cover I made for my granddaughter, and there was not a problem.
Any suggestions or shared experiences with washing Minky  would be appreciated.

Procrastination and Pouches

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Procrastination is my middle name.
I have four quilts to bind before Christmas.
Instead of binding, I spent the afternoon making small pouches. Well, I sort of have a reason for this procrastination. My fingers need a chance to heal. I had a run-in with the needle when I was sewing a coiled rope coaster. I sewed right over the tip of left pointing finger. Ouch! Then, I had a mishap with the rotary blade on the pointing finger on my right hand. It is difficult to bind with my fingers in bandages.

My sister had asked if I could make her a small pouch. I tried two different sizes. The first pouch is 4″X 5″. The second pouch is 2.5″X 3″. I am going to try to make one that is 3″X 4″. I think it would make a cute set of three pouches. This project gave me the opportunity to use the button-hole tool on my machine. I have been wanting to use it ever since I took a class on how to use the machine. As you can see, I am still having difficulty with the button placement. The feather pouch was my first attempt, and the button is way too high. The other two pouches came out a little bit better.

A Walk in the Garden

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

After some beautiful, sunny, and warm days, we are now having a bit of a cool front. My Meemaw friends and I decided to enjoy the brisk air and take our weekly walk at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. They are having an art display of Lego sculptures. The Nature Connect sculptures are by Sean Kenney. It is an amazing display.
 
I especially liked the red wheelbarrow.
The “gardeners” in the background are also Lego sculptures.
 
The deer family was another favorite.
The spider hanging from the tree was also.

This bird bath with cardinals also had a squirrel and bumble bees. It was made with over 14, 500 Legos.

The turtle with the bird on its back made me smile.

The peacock was made with over 68,000 Legos.
The Gardens were beautiful as always, and our walk was very enjoyable.
Some of the plants were decorated.

Now, I have to get back to work.
I have finished binding one wall hanging.
I have two small quilts and one large quilt to bind.
Then there are some other projects that need to be finished before Christmas.

Meemaw’s Rockport Adventure

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Today will be spent trying to recuperate from four fun days with the Meemaws.
Then, I have to get back to finishing a quilt.

The photos in this video were taken with my iphone, so they are a bit fuzzy. The bird tour was absolutely fabulous. There were some serious birders on the boat. Captain Tim provided great information. Please excuse the corny music I added to the video. I chose it particularly for one of the Meemaws.

Winter’s Tale

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

On one of my shopping trips to Las Colchas, a display quilt caught my eye. It was made from the fabric collection of Elizabeth Grubaugh, which I found to be so “active” and different. One of the fabrics is called Bear’s Holiday…my favorite. Another print, that has very cute rabbits, is called Marshmallow Morning. Then there is the Deer Santa print. The animal prints just tell a story. The quilt is called A Winter’s Tail, but I think it should be called a Winter’s Tale. It is a holiday quilt, but it does not look like the typical seasonal quilt. I bought the fabric and pattern on impulse, and I’m glad I did.
I managed to get everything cut today. I also pieced thirteen of the blocks. I hope to finish piecing the other blocks tomorrow. Then I can assemble the quilt when I return from Rockport.

A Bear’s Holiday

I love the color combinations.

Block #47 ~ Buda Thanksgiving

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Buda, Texas, with my son and his family. My granddaughter was so proud of setting the table and making the place cards. She was also very excited about the delicious cheesecake that she and her mother prepared.
We sat by the fire pit on the deck. My son always prepares tender meat and poultry on his Egg barbecue pit.
I just sat back and enjoyed listening to my granddaughter tell jokes from her joke book.
It was a great day.

Block #47 ~ Buda Thanksgiving
Background: Multi-colored stripes.
Backing: Multi-colored circles.
Technique: Applique
Embellishment: Bead, embroidery

Block #46~ Friday, November 16

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

My grandson woke up all excited about Friday being Christmas tree decorating day. While we waited for everyone to return from school and work, the two of us painted rocks. He was so focused as he painted his snowman rock. He wanted it to be part of the decorations for the house. His dad bought an easel stand for the snowman to be displayed in the Sun Room.

This snowman rock painted by my grandson is the inspiration for my journal entry this week.
Decorating the house with my grandson was Snow Much Fun!

Block #46~ Friday, November 16
Snow Much Fun!
Background: Peppermint-striped fabric. Backing: Green and red snowflakes
Technique: Applique
Embellishment: Beads

Clown Cars

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

I dropped off the owl quilt top with my friend Jeana. She said she can have it quilted in time for Christmas. Yay!
She is working on the log cabin quilt I made in October. Jeana also said she could quilt the small Christmas top that I am starting, if I can get it to her by next Wednesday, when I pick up my other quilts. In the corner of her studio, there were six tubs that each contained quilts she had already finished.  There were also about 5 tubs with quilts that she plans to complete before Christmas. Jeana is absolutely the best!
I plan to get started on the Christmas quilt top today. Hopefully, I can get a bunch done before I leave for Rockport.
When my Meemaw friends and I went to the Houston International Quilt Show, we were given fabric name tags in the shape of cars. They gave me their name tags so that I could make something out of them. I made some clown car mug rugs to take on our trip.